JOURNAL/ March/2015

The jury found the project to be a clever response to its urban context "an urban repair which is a challenge in itself and very well executed indeed."

A jury of three international architects judged the best commercial completed projects in the UK: Earle Arney, Chief Executive of FKA Architecture + Interiors, Jacqueline Beckingham, Director and Design Leader at Benoy and Stephen Pey, Associate Director of EPR Architects.

Visit the WAN Awards

A luxurious executive lounge with the ambience of an exclusive club has been created within the top-floor's exposed timber roof structure. Rich golden tones are layered throughout and contrast with the cool shades of handmade glazed and cement patterned tiles and the white marble of the central bar.

The adjacent roof terrace provides the perfect setting for early-evening cocktails whilst watching the sunset over Adelaide.

Quirky light fittings and details provide an element of surprise, humour and personality. Bespoke solid brass door pulls and mirror-hooks in the forms of animals and birds, hand-crafted by artist Susie Stanford, add to this sense of playfulness.

One of the significant challenges for the team was to produce a series of stand-alone furnishing components that could be arranged within the many room types that are a product of this renovation whilst achieving the appearance of a bespoke design.

Bates Smart Interior Design with JPE Design Studio as Architects. This project will set a new benchmark for boutique accommodation in the City of Churches.

Learn more about this project.

Bates Smart Director Guy Lake comments: “The bushland context was a key inspiration for the design and we retained a significant amount of vegetation around the development with over 90% indigenous species being used in the new landscape.

“A series of interconnected external spaces were created, linked by pathways along cuttings and elevated walkways, creating communal landscapes for residents to inhabit.”

The buildings have been carefully located to minimise the impact on the surrounding bushland and are stepped in sympathy with the existing topography to allow a unique relationship with the land. Key features of the design include large sandstone walls reconstructed from material found on site and the use of natural ‘off form’ materials, which give the buildings a unique connection to its bushland context.

The development has excellent environmental credentials and is one of the first residential developments in NSW to undertake formal EnviroDevelopment accreditation, achieving the highest 6 leaves rating.

Learn more about this project.

Bates Smart Workplace Strategist Kellie Payne explains how the teaching spaces were developed:

“We worked closely with the leading edge CDU Office of Learning and Teaching to introduce differing levels of privacy, social interaction and technology to encourage students to both work and socialise on campus and thereby extend their learning experience.

“Students need to connect with the world and communities beyond the classroom to bring relevant resources for use as part of their learning experience.”

The collaborative and interactive room layouts allow complete flexibility. Technology in these rooms is consistent and seamless, with multiple interactive screens, lecture recording and distant streaming on a consistent and easy to use platform. In addition social spaces have been carefully planned around the notion of ‘food is glue’, the centrally located cafe at the campus entrance and the generous shared kitchen on the upper floor are considered key social spaces linked on either end by the interconnecting stair.

The new workplace designed by Bates Smart will offer a more open work environment, designed to nurture the collaborative and focus workstyles of their legal staff. There will be a greater diversity of work settings to suit varied workstyles, with increased mobility supported by an advanced technology infrastructure. Staff will be better connected in the new workplace, working on floorplates double the size of their current floors at 140 William Street and connected by a dramatic spiral stair and generous atrium across the 3 levels.

Clients and staff will enjoy excellent amenity, including a client working lounge and a signature double-height wintergarden.

Bespoke spaces are designed to combine the multifunction of reception and display with the technical and functional aspects of sales. In the past few years we have completed display suites for 35 Spring Street, The Capitol and Convesso Concavo in Melbourne as well as Sydney projects including: HarbourFront, Balmain, Leichhardt Green, Ryde Garden and Monarch Mosman with several more under development.

Associate Director David Tordoff was closely involved in the development of the display suites for Country Garden and their highly successful Ryde Garden development.

“These complex spaces are critical in communicating a strong branded message to potential purchasers of the quality of the development. They typically contain one or two mock-up apartments plus other marketing information such as apartment finishes, options and marketing plans.

Our designs for these spaces have consistently facilitated high volume, high return sales early in the marketing campaign.”

The Country Garden development was successfully launched to market with 296 apartments being sold in the first 6 hours of selling (90% of the first release).

View the gallery images to see recently completed display suites across Sydney and Melbourne.

The award nominations are as follows:

• 171 Collins Street, Sydney
  Best Office Development
  Best Sustainable Development – New Buildings
• Gantry, Camperdown
  Best Heritage development.

The winners will be announced at a gala dinner in May.

For his graduation studio and thesis, Chris investigated the role of the building within the city. He focused on the role of the car park as a piece of transformative architecture and its ability to both influence the broader city, inspired by the Japanese metabolists of the 1960s.

Chris is now working in our Sydney studio on design competitions and a range of mixed use and residential projects. View Chris’s outstanding work in the gallery.

As Melbourne's first six-star residential destination, Capitol Grand comprises two towers, on Toorak Road and Chapel Street respectively, with select apartments offering 360° views of the city.

LK Property Group, developers of Capitol Grand South Yarra, announced Charlize Theron as the brand ambassador of Capitol Grand. Theron features in an impressive multimedia campaign which includes a short film by Oscar-winning Australian cinematographer Dion Beebe.

Entered through a new paved garden square, the sheltered porte cochere leads from the hotel-like ground floor to residences and penthouses of exceptional quality, generous in scale and proportion, and crafted from beautiful materials with meticulous care. This is an environment which is truly metropolitan, yet provides a place of sanctuary.

Capitol Grand Club gives residents access to a pool, gymnasium, club lounge and gardens, which offer a calm contrast to the energetic neighbourhood below. The pool pavilion extends into the garden with perimeter skylights which capture and soften the water experience, contributing to an atmosphere of calm contemplation.

Initial works on the project will begin late this year. Construction is anticipated to be completed by end of 2017.

The development is designed to exploit South Yarra’s vibrant mix of culture, dining and shopping.

Following a short intro from Marc Colella, AECOM and Melbourne CTBUH City Representative, Kristen Whittle, Director of Bates Smart talked through the architectural challenges of designing a Superslim tower - Collins House.

This unique project required careful resolution of apartment planning through the vertical beam concrete structure; heritage building interface and the 15-story car stacker toward the rear of the site.

Rob DiBlasi of 4D Workshop talked through the principle structural issues of designing Collins House and Steve Richardson of Richstone Group discussed the onsite challenges of building super slim towers through sequencing, access management, risk management and the use of innovative systems as seen on the recent Phoenix Tower construction also in Melbourne.

Bates Smart Director, Kristen Whittle

Bates Smart is proud to sponsor this award, Australia’s most prestigious media accolade for journalists, editors, producers and others reporting on architecture and design.

The award has become an integral part of the Australian Institute of Architects, Victorian Chapter annual awards program. Entries close on 1 April 2015. 

Entry details here.

Pictured: Still from The Architecture of Edmond And Corrigan film by Toby Reed, 2014 Local Award Winner. 

Bates Smart Director Kristen Whittle will introduce Juhani.  

Juhani retains strong links with the school and acts as external examiner for the masters course in architecture.

Learn more here.

Korundi Concert Hall, Rovaniemi, Finland by Juhani Pallasmaa